Revised version copyright 2006 by the author.
I never used to believe that saying about bad things coming in threes. But when I lost my wife and my job in the same week, I began to wonder what was going to hit me next.
There's nothing like hindsight. Often after the fact you can look back and tell yourself you should have seen it coming. But I was honestly shocked when my wife fell in love with someone else and asked for a divorce. Sure, our love life hadn't been great lately, but she had never been wild about sex even when we were dating. When I said this to her the night she left, she shook her head.
"I was always crazy for you, Roy. You were the one who wasn't interested. I thought something was wrong with me. Now I know that's not true. I've met someone who loves me and who thinks I'm the hottest thing around."
No hard feelings, she added, kissing me on the cheek. Then she walked out the door and left me to pick up the pieces.
Getting laid off, though, shouldn't have come as a surprise. My company hadn't been doing well for months. The downturn that started last fall really hit us hard. Still, I didn't think my own job was in danger, even though they took me off some important projects and fired my assistants.
My wife left on a Tuesday night. When I walked into my area vice-president's office that Friday morning and saw the look on his face, I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. All of a sudden I knew that my bad week was about to get worse.
He tried to be nice about it. He offered me a generous severance package and promised to give me good references. I found out later that he had been let go himself soon after he'd given me the ax.
I came home that afternoon to an empty silent house. I carried the boxes of stuff that I had cleaned out of my office from my car to the front hallway, put them on the floor and went to the couch in the living room. For the next several hours I sat, not moving, until it was dark. Finally I went to the bedroom that my wife and I had shared until recently. Without bothering to get undressed I lay down in the middle of the king-sized bed and stared at the ceiling until I fell asleep.
I forced myself to get up and eat the next morning, but I walked around the house for the next few days in a daze. I felt as if someone had punched me in the gut. Everything I had worked for and believed in had turned to ashes. I had failed both at my job and at my marriage. What was I going to do?
My cell phone rang once in a while, filling up with messages from friends and co-workers who had heard what had happened to me and were concerned. Finally I turned it off. I didn't respond to their messages or call any of them back.
A few days later an idea came to me. It was evening and the Texas summer heat had subsided. I had walked outside and was staring at my dark blue Jeep Cherokee sitting in the driveway. It was almost new--I had bought it last year, when things were still going well--and in great shape. I could drive it anywhere I wanted. I had money in my pocket, for the time being, at least. Why not get away from this mess for a few days, a week maybe, do some thinking on the road? Maybe then I could figure out how to get on with my life.
The next morning I called and had my paper delivery suspended. That day I ran a few errands that I needed to do before leaving. In the evening I packed a few clothes and essentials in an overnight bag for my planned departure the next day.
The morning dawned bright and sunny. I walked out the door with my luggage, such as it was. Hearing it slam shut behind me gave me a hollow feeling--it was as if a whole chapter was closing in my life. As I was throwing the bag in the back of my SUV I saw my next-door neighbor leaving for work--the lucky guy still had a job. I told him I was going out of town for a few days and asked him to keep an eye on the house.
"Going on a vacation with the missus?" he asked, smiling.
"No, alone. My wife left me last week," I said. He blinked and promised to take care of things.
That was all I had to do. Soon I was driving out of Austin, heading north, armed with a sixpack of bottled water and a few roadmaps. I left the cell phone sitting on the living room table. I kept my eyes on the road and drove carefully. Other than that, I let my thoughts wander. But no revelations came to me, at least not that day.
By late afternoon I was well into the Panhandle, driving in hot, dusty and flat country. The dreary scenery matched my mood. I had to take a leak real bad--drinking all that water had caught up with me. I began looking for somewhere to stop. After some miles I saw a roadside rest stop, just a small turnoff with some picnic tables, vending machines, and rest rooms. Attempts at landscaping the area had long since succumbed to the unrelenting sun.
No one else was parked in the lot when I pulled in. I stopped in front of the men's room and hurried inside to the urinal. I barely got unzipped before releasing what felt like a gallon of pee. As the painful pressure against my bladder eased I heaved a sigh of relief.
As the stream slowed to a trickle another sensation came to my mind. It felt good holding my cock, and I realized how long it had been since I'd gotten off. Julie and I hadn't had sex for months while our marriage crumbled, and in my depressed state since she had left me I hadn't even felt like masturbating. Now for the first time in quite a while I felt horny. I gave my penis a few tentative strokes and felt it begin to swell in my hand. I hadn't heard any other cars pull up and I was quite sure I was alone at the rest stop. Still, I hesitated, uneasy about doing it out in the open.
There were two urinals side by side in the small men's room, and two wooden stalls with toilets along the same wall a bit further from the entrance. If I was going to jack off it would be safer behind a closed door. I pushed open the door of the stall nearest the urinals, lowered my trousers and sat on the toilet. The sharp smell of disinfectant hit my nostrils but somehow this only made me hornier.
My cut cock sprang straight up when it was freed, already leaking clear fluid. I began to stroke it, spreading the precum over the head and shaft, spitting into my hand and adding it for more lubrication. Damn, that felt good. It wouldn't take me long at this rate.
At that moment I heard the sound of a running motor approaching. Another car had entered the rest area and pulled up close to the restroom entrance. The driver killed the engine and in a moment I heard footsteps enter the men's room. Despite the fact that he couldn't possibly see me, I was embarrassed and stopped what I was doing.
